


Back in Bloom

by ThirdGenerationRockette



Series: Cherry Blossom [2]
Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Babyfic, F/M, Fluff, McBaby #1, Post-Series, back away now if babyfic makes you want to puke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 06:26:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13758204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirdGenerationRockette/pseuds/ThirdGenerationRockette
Summary: In the shower she thinks about how much things have changed since they were here last year, and it's almost unfathomable. When they were last here Neal was in Venezuela, Will was facing a threat of prison that he thought would never come to fruition, and Pruit was their brand new work problem.





	Back in Bloom

"Is this a ridiculous idea?" She frowns at him and he smiles at her.

"I hate to remind you," he says, pausing briefly. "But it was _your_ idea."

"I know that, but it was a year ago," she says, watching as he puts yet another blanket in the bag, which she makes a mental note to remove if she gets the chance. "But I didn't expect for a minute we'd have an eleven week old baby to take with us."

"Fair point," he says, his smile growing wider as he looks at his son. "But we do, thank God...and hell, right now he's still pretty portable. You're still feeding him, he can't demand a say in the itinerary...it's next year we'll have our work cut out for us."

"So we should make the most of this year being pretty easy." She smiles back at him, and then down at Thomas in her lap. "That's what you're saying?"

"I wouldn't want to jinx anything by using the word _easy_...but yeah, I think it'll be fine." He shrugs and she can't help smiling at his confidence. "It'll be good to get away before you come back to work too."

"Yeah, because I have a feeling Pruit will lock me in my office when I get back and I'll never get another day off again." She smirks but there's an element of truth in her words that she has avoided thinking about while she's been home with the baby, but that she's going to have to face fairly soon.

"I was thinking we could head out after he's been fed," he says, watching as Thomas starts to fuss slightly. "Traffic should be pretty good now, and he'll sleep in the car, right?"

"He should, I think, yeah." She nods and starts to open her shirt, shifting the baby closer to her. "We can stop and I can feed him again just before we get there too...driving was a good idea, Billy, I wasn't loving the idea of a flight with him."

"Don't let your mom hear you say that." He watches as Thomas settles against her, his tiny pink lips pursed until he finds what he's looking for and latches on so he can start to feed.

"I know we'll need to do it sooner or later." Running her hand softly over the baby's head, she looks up and smiles. "We can make them all come here to visit for a little while though."

"I'll go put the bags in the car," he says, smiling back as he heads for the door.

*

She doesn't think she will ever get tired of people making a fuss of Thomas, telling them how sweet he is, how he has his daddy's eyes, and she loves to see how proud Will is, how his eyes light up and his chest puffs up just enough that only she sees it.

They check in to the hotel, a sleeping Thomas in his car seat, their bags in Will's hands, and the receptionist coos over the baby, smiling and asking Mackenzie questions about how old he is, how well he sleeps, telling her how much he looks like both of his parents. She loves how people seem to see different things in Thomas's face, some people telling her he looks just like her, others saying he's a miniature Will. She sees something new every day, and although his eyes are Will's and his mouth is hers, his expressions are all his own but with alternating shades of theirs. It still amuses her that he has her hair, and she can't quite understand why she was so firmly convinced the entire way through her pregnancy that he was going to be blonde.

"Honey?" He breaks into her thoughts, putting the bags on the bed, unzipping the one with Thomas's things inside and turning to her. "Do you need anything in here?"

"I don't think so, not just yet." She smiles at him and sits down on the end of the bed. "You know what I'd like?"

"What?" he asks, taking off his jacket and throwing it over the back of one the chairs.

"I'd like a shower," she says, looking at Thomas in his seat on the floor, and then up at Will. "I think he'll sleep a little while longer now he's been fed, and-"

"And even if he doesn't, I can manage." He sits down beside her on the bed and gently nudges her shoulder. "Go, take a shower, take your time. Your boys will be fine."

In the shower she thinks about how much things have changed since they were here last year, and it's almost unfathomable. When they were last here Neal was in Venezuela, Will was facing a threat of prison that he thought would never come to fruition, and Pruit was their brand new work problem. If the events that followed had been on film, people would have said it was unrealistic, far-fetched that so much could happen to a small group of people, yet here they are, with the past year behind them and so much change to reflect upon. She had expected to get married in church in front of three hundred people, she had thought Charlie would always be around (silly, she knows, but he was _Charlie_ , their constant, and he was just meant to be there), and she had resigned herself to never becoming a mother. And then everything was flipped upside down, she married Will at City Hall without any of her family present, her new husband went straight to prison, the universe cruelly took Charlie while Will was gone and then somehow managed to take the edge off the pain with a baby. She has a _baby_ , Will's baby, and some days she just gazes at him because she still can't quite believe it, just like she can't believe she's the President of ACN now Charlie's gone.

When she suggested to Will that they come to DC every year for the cherry blossom, a tiny part of her had thought about the two of them bringing their child with them, and how it would become a family tradition, with photos each year of he or she getting bigger. She had forced the thought from her mind because she was certain by that point it was never going to happen, so being here now, with Thomas, is more than she could ever have hoped for.

She walks back into the bedroom, wrapped in a fluffy hotel robe, damp hair loose around her shoulders, and she smiles at the sight greeting her. Will is on the bed, sitting back against the headboard, Thomas propped up against a mountain of pillows beside him, and he's reading to him, pausing to show him the pictures. She feels a lump in her throat as she stands and watches them, but stays quiet as he carries on for a few more pages. Spotting her, he grins and turns to Thomas.

"What do we think, buddy? Room for Mommy on here too?" He nods seriously at the baby, before turning back to her. "Get up here."

*

"You know we're going to be back in a few weeks for the dinner?" She squeezes his hand gently as they walk. "And don't even start with your 'do we really have to go?' crap, I'm not buying it."

"I was going to say that as the President of ACN, you could nominate whoever you like to go in your place." He smirks at her as he points at a coffee stand up ahead and she nods.

"Right." She returns his smirk. "And the most logical choice would be the anchor of our flagship show who is married so would obviously bring his wife as his date, but oh, wait a second, his wife is the President, and I'm the President so...you see the problem?"

"Fine," he says with a sigh. "I can probably get through it if you wear another dress like last year's."

"Have you seen what's going on down here right now?" She glances down towards her chest and grins at him.

"And your point?" He waggles his eyebrows and she laughs.

"I'd never get last year's dress over my post-baby belly," she says with a sigh. "And even if I did, there are certain other parts of me that _definitely_ wouldn't fit."

He opens his mouth to respond just as their turn comes to order coffee, so she is spared whatever was about to come next. She needs to think about a dress for this year's dinner though, and she knows she's been putting it off because she doesn't feel like herself yet and she knows she's going to struggle to find something she likes. She knows too that if she were to share that with Will, he would no doubt demand that one of the big fashion houses custom make something for her...and she really doesn't want a team of people taking her measurements right now, so she's saying nothing. It's been less than three months since she gave birth, not long at all, but she has days when she wishes her body would just snap back into its pre-pregnancy shape. Then she looks at Thomas and she realises it doesn't matter that she can't quite squeeze into her jeans yet, that her boobs feel like they want to escape whichever bra she forces them into, or that she avoids looking in the mirror completely some days; it all pales in comparison to what she has now.

She peeks into the carrier where Thomas is nestled securely against Will's chest, a tuft of his dark brown hair visible under his blue hat, and his fingers curled up in Will's sweater.

"He likes it there." She smiles and takes a sip of coffee, wrapping her cold hands around the cup. "I don't blame him. Your chest is pretty comfy, Billy."

"So's yours," he says with a smirk.

"Mine may as well have a flashing neon sign saying 'dinner' hanging from it. I think that's all he cares about right now." She pauses, looking at her watch. "Can we walk?"

"Sure." He nods and stands up, Thomas still sound asleep against him. "He's ready for a feed soon?"

"Yeah." She smiles and takes his hand again as they start to walk. "If we head back to the hotel I can feed him and then he can sleep while we...do whatever we feel like doing in our nice, luxurious room."

"Are you propositioning me, Mackenzie McHale?" He tries to bite back his grin but largely fails, and she smirks at him.

"I am." She nods and he squeezes her hand a little tighter.

*

She admits that she's completely smitten by the sight of Thomas on Will's shoulder as he burps him, Will's hand almost covering the baby's entire back before moving to run tenderly over his head, his fingers moving gently through his dark hair. She watches them now from where she's stretched out on the bed, scrolling casually through the news on her phone, knowing she'd have been alerted if anything particularly important had happened, but still unable to break the habit, even while on maternity leave. Will smiles over at her as he puts a sleeping Thomas down to nap, before kicking off his shoes and moving towards the bed. She sits up and puts her phone on the nightstand, smiling back at him as he sits down next to her and moves back to rest against the headboard. Moving closer, she sits next to him and slides her hand into his, resting her head against his shoulder as her fingers start to play absently with his.

"He'll sleep for a while now, right?" His thumb runs slowly across hers and she sighs as a comfortable warmth spreads slowly through her.

"He should," she says, looking up at him and nodding. "If we were at home and he was sleeping, I'd probably nap too, you know."

"Nap if you want to, honey." He smiles at her and squeezes her fingers in his. "I've got him if he wakes up."

"You're missing my point entirely." Leaning up, she cups his face with her free hand and kisses him hard, making herself clear, she hopes. "When I nap at home, you're at work and I'm home alone realising how sleepy I am...but you're not at work now and I'm not sleepy."

“We could watch a movie…?” His tone is vague and she’s about to question if her signals are missing the mark totally when she sees the smirk on his face.

“Yeah, a movie,” she says, landing a playful thump on his arm. “You arse, I thought I was losing my touch for a minute there.”

“Never.” He shifts suddenly and, resting his hands on her hips, pulls her down so she’s flat on the bed, causing a surprised giggle. “Was this more what you had in mind?”

“Could be…” She smiles up at him as he grins down at her, running a thumb slowly across her collarbone.

Her hands move to his back, sliding under his sweater as he leans down to kiss her before moving to lie beside her, pulling her closer. His touch is so light as his fingers trail up her side that it tickles and she giggles again, rolling onto her back and pulling him down for another kiss, one hand pushing into his hair. His hand settles on her hip as he deepens the kiss, but when he moves it gently onto her stomach, she flinches slightly before slipping her fingers into his and pulling his hand away, hoping he won't notice. Nibbling gently on his bottom lip, she rubs her thumb across his, shifting their joined hands away from her stomach and onto her hip. Pulling his lips from hers, he frowns at her, slowly taking his hand out of hers and pushing it under her shirt to rest again on her stomach.

"Will..." She bites her lip, sighing as his thumb starts to move across her skin, feeling silly for her self-consciousness but also wishing he'd just touch her somewhere else, not on the stomach that still feels like it belongs to someone else, even though the tiny captor who held it hostage for so long is sleeping peacefully across the room.

"I'm onto you, Mackenzie," he murmurs quietly before leaning in to kiss her again, his hand continuing its slow trail across her skin as she fights the urge to suck in her stomach because she knows it's ridiculous. This is Will, she knows he isn't looking at her with anything other than the usual love in his eyes, she knows this is her own insecurity and she tries desperately to push it away.

"I know I'm being irrational..." She breaks the kiss and looks at him, feeling silly again. "But maybe you could just not focus on my...jiggly bits for now?"

"Your jiggly bits?" He smirks and she feels herself blushing slightly as he slides his hand higher, bringing it to sit firmly on her breast. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a big fan of your jiggly bits, honey."

"Yeah, well, even if you could get past the sexy nursing bra, these things will probably just try and spray you with milk which is, you know, really not hot." She grumbles but he's smiling at her and it makes her realise she's hung up on something that really doesn't matter. Still, she's started now, she may as well finish. "And the rest of me is...well, I just look-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence." He stops her, his smile fading slightly, his eyes still fixed firmly on hers. "Unless it was going to end with 'really fucking gorgeous'."

"Not quite," she says, and he dips his head down to her shoulder, his lips sucking lightly on her skin, before he moves lower, his hands managing to fumble open the buttons on her shirt as he pushes his tongue between her breasts, stopping suddenly and looking up at her.

"If he wakes up while we're...you know." He pauses and scoots higher up the bed, his face close to hers. "Will he be traumatised? Scarred for life?"

"He's eleven weeks old, Will." She runs a hand affectionately through his hair. "I'm fairly certain that whenever he wakes up, his little brain just thinks he's awake because it's time to eat...and anyway, we won't wake him up."

"No." He leans forward to press a kiss to her chin, smirking at her as he pulls back. "We won't wake him."

"Hey!" Her fingers tighten their grip in his hair and she lowers her voice. "I can be quiet."

"You can, huh?" He laughs and she drags his head down to kiss him hard, her tongue sweeping quickly across his top lip before she pulls away.

"Billy, do you want me to list all the times we've done it somewhere I've had to be quiet?" His eyes widen and she giggles.

"Pretty sure most of those times I had to shove something in your mouth to _keep_ you quiet." His hand slides around to her lower back, his fingers slipping inside her jeans, into the lace of her underwear.

"Pretty sure I was ok with that." She sighs as his lips move to her neck and leave a row of small, hot kisses on her skin as she manages to push out her next words. "It's your fault anyway. You're the one doing things to me that make me noisy."

"Then I'm doing it right," he says, his teeth scraping across her shoulder causing her to bite back a loud moan, proving her point about his talents.

"Oh yeah, you really are." She forgets about her earlier insecurity, closes her eyes and lets him set to work on keeping her quiet.


End file.
